We are sure you’ve seen the Conor McGregor warm up routine with rubber arms.
If you haven’t –>
It’s even been made into a dance, but that’s besides the point. Whether we are amused or enchanted by this man’s rubber arms, we know that McGregor has mastery over his body. Balance, flexibility, agility – you name it, he’s certainly got it. So how did the reigning UFC champion managed to attain physical awesomeness? Part of the answer is in functional training!
So why does McGregor and everyone else need Functional Training?
Let’s first ask the question – what is “Functional Training”.
Sometimes the simplest concepts in life might turn out to be the most confusing as well. With the bastardizing of the term “Functional Training” as with many other fitness terms nowadays, it is easy to understand why we get caught up in following the latest fitness trends or idolizing (or worse, stalking) so many instagram stars.
It’s come to a point where everything they do or say makes sense as long as they look good doing what they do. We get so caught up in following others, we forget what’s really important or the fundamental reason so to WHY exercise in the first place – generally speaking (we hope) is to improve your quality of life, psychologically and physically.
We want to move better, walk better, feel better and look better. Yes, vanity is part of why we exercise. However, as much as we want to look good, we want to emphasize the importance of functioning better as a human being. Basic movements like walking, jumping, throwing, reaching and even standing require a chain of muscular action and reaction to achieve! These are the same basic movements every human needs in order to function better and longer. These movements also gives us the foundation to build on and to realise our full physical potential.
Now we know what “Functional Training” is, why do we need it?
Not all of us want to be the next Joseph Schooling or earn millions like McGregor or even look like a fitness model. But we all should least do our bodies justice by allowing it to function as it was built to. This is where functional training enters the picture like a shining beacon of light that we failed to see. Regardless of who we are, we ALL need functional training. The difference is what kinds of functional training should we do.
The basis of any functional exercise is to help us improve our daily movements. Whether you are a professional athlete, a mother of 3, or an expert keyboard warrior, you WILL need to stand, walk, and sit. It is not a question of how well you want to do these movements but more importantly, how you want to feel when you perform these movements.
No one wishes to be in constant discomfort at any point of our lives. Yet, it is not till we sprain our middle finger that we realise we need it more than just using it to flip the proverbial bird. A pull in our back muscle leaves us regretting how little we appreciated it when we could sneeze without a care in the world. Sleeping at a wrong angle takes away our ability to check our abs in the morning without a mirror.
There are many exercises that fall under the umbrella of functional training. At The Fitness Project, we built our Hydrofit programmes in order to help everyone achieve more in their daily functions. Whether it’s to reduce a hunch, carry our kids, increasing bragging rights in weekly games or even just being pain-free, our Hydrofit Zen and Hydrofit Pump helps. Both the Hydrofit Zen and Hydrofit Pump are performed on floating Boga Fitmats that allows us to engage our stabilizing muscles, core and joints. Immersion in a peaceful, aquatic environment has also been scientifically proven to lower stress levels, relief from mild anxiety, pain and depression, improve mental clarity and focus, and better sleep quality.
The Hydrofit Zen utilities yoga flows to help us stretch to open up our bodies. It seeks to release tension in our necks and shoulders due to increased sedentary lifestyles. Common lower backaches can also be tackled with lower back, hips and glute stretches. The program incorporates pilates movements that not only tones, lengthens but also strengthens major muscles and stabilizing muscles that protects and improvements movements in the joints and spine. Together with breathing exercises, Hydrofit Zen is the ideal program for who looking to destress while having a holistic workout of flexibility, strength and body awareness.
The Hydrofit Pump would interest individuals that are looking for more calisthenics exercises which are slightly more fast-paced and dynamic. While working on the Boga Fitmats, it challenges our participants to engage joint and spine stabilizing muscles which we tend to neglect, increase heart rates, tone, strengthen and build muscles without carrying heavy weights!! More interestingly, it injects new dimensions to simple exercises such as push up, squats and planks.
At The Fitness Project, we believe that fitness is for everyone and hence, all our programs have different levels that will challenge every individual at their own abilities.
All exercises serves a purpose, has a function and works towards building a better and pain-free life.